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Final Fantasy VII Magic Only Challenge
Copyright Acid Angel 13 2006
ver 1.00
CONTENTS******************************************************************
i INTRODUCTION
ii THE RULES
iii FAQ's
iv HELPFUL TIPS
v SETUPS/SUGGESTIONS
vi CHARACTER RUNDOWN
vii WALKTHROUGH
viii THANKS
ix LEGAL STUFF
x VERSION HISTORY/AUTHORIZED SITES
************************************ i ********************************
INTRODUCTION
With the hit I seemed to have with my Command Materia Only challenge,
when it came time to get my Final Fantasy VII fix again, I thought I'd try
for a repeat performance. A Summon Only challenge was my first thought,
until I grasped that it would be a No Materia game for a good portion of
play, then a Fairly Useless Materia Challenge for a while thereafter, not
to mention the fact that, with the astronomical MP cost of summons and the
amount of time and AP necessary to make those materia useful as a sole
means of attack. So, that idead was scrapped. The thought of using
only Independent Materia crossed my mind for about a tenth of a second...
Finally, I settled on the only logical choice. Magic Only.
So, with my trusty Dualshock in hand and my ever-faithful copy of
Final Fantasy VII (I've had this same copy longer than I've had my wife,
can you dig that?), I set about conquering the task before me, as well
as chronicling the adventure in an entertaining and informative manner
for anyone else interested in taking on this unique approach to the
masterpiece that is Final Fantasy VII.
As with all of my guides, this guide was composed WHILE playing, so the
information presented should be 100% accurate. Specifically, this guide
was written using the notoriously inaccurate Bradygames Official Guide as
sort of a roadmap, from which I laid out the basic strategies and events
BEFORE I actually reached them during gameplay. These basics were then
checked and revised as I reached the set points, therefore producing the
unique and guide-specific information presented here.
There are guides, FAQs, lists, challenges upon challenges for FFVII.
In the case of the latter, this is simply another. Now, this game in its
own right is not terribly difficult, so the term 'challenge' actually
translates to "a reason to play this masterpiece again".
For those of you who need a reason...
!!WARNING!! THIS GUIDE ASSUMES YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY COMPLETED THE GAME
THERE WILL BE SPOILERS, AND THEY WILL APPEAR WITHOUT WARNING
************************************ ii ********************************
THE RULES
i: Only Magic (green) materias may be equipped and used. There will
be, at NO TIME, any non-magic type materia in the player's
possession. All non-magic type materia recieved must be trashed.
Any character joining the team with non magic type materia equipped
must have said materia removed and trashed immediately. In the
case of such a character joining the party in battle, any non-
magic commands equipped cannot be used during the battle.
ii: You may NOT equip W-Magic.
iii: In battle, ONLY the 'Magic' and 'Item' commands may be used.
iv: Only Ethers and Turbo Ethers may be used in battle. Those items,
the various Sources, and the Save Crystal are the only items that
may be used outside of battle from the Item menu. ABSOLUTELY NO
HP restorative items may be used at any time, including Tents,
Elixers, and Megalixers. These items may be sold for a profit,
however.
v: You may enter the menu and use the Magic command to restore HP to
party members at any time on the World Map.
*********************************** iii ********************************
FAQS (that I made up)
Q: Can this be done?
A: Sure. In fact, probably with a relatively small degree of
difficulty. The level of the challenge is based more on the level
of the characters, so how hard it is is, ultimately, up to the
player (that would be you.)
Q: Is this challenge more difficult than (insert challenge title
here)?
A: YES. This is THE HARDEST challenge available for Final Fantasy
VII, or any other game in existence.
Okay, I'm kidding. It IS a challenge, but, as stated, over-
levelling your party and/or materia can severely affect the
difficulty level. If it's too hard, gain a level or two. Too
easy? Speed right to the next plot point. This game, played in
any manner, is only as hard as YOU make it.
************************************ iv ********************************
HELPFUL TIPS (or, Some Stuff You May Have Forgotten)
i: Almost every enemy and boss in the game has a certain weakness to
one magic or another. Knowing this weakness and having the
proper materia on hand can mean the difference between life and
death for the party.
ii: Pay close attention to your HP, especially at the beginning of the
game. Know the limitations of your Cure magic, and never, NEVER,
let your HP fall too low in battle OR in the field. Until you get
a Revive materia, any character you lose will be dead/KO until
you can use an Inn. Remember, three heads is better than two...
iii: Don't underestimate the power of some of the lesser appreciated
magics available. During this challenge, I found some materias
I have NEVER used before to be particularly handy, such as Exit/
Remove and certain status magics. This is NOT a normal game, and
I pretty much guarantee you'll be employing some tactics you may
never have used before.
iv: Always have your entire party in the back row. It reduces
physical damage, yet does not affect magic damage, outgoing or
imcoming.
v: Save often. That's your only warning.
*********************************** v ********************************
SETUPS/SUGGESTIONS
This is sort of an extension of the Helpful Hints section. Basically,
I will offer advice on how to use and who to equip with certain
materias in order to help you advance. Mind you, these are simply MY
personal preferences, and are in no way absolutely neccesary to
complete this challenge.
i. Always get a new materia AS SOON as you find it, and equip it, if
possible, ASAP. You will NEED a full set of Master Magics to
finish the game, so start piling AP on those materias early on.
ii. Sometimes, it's safer to kill the enemy slowly and painfully to
conserve MP. Cast Bio to poison an enemy, then use Sleepel to
keep it from being a threat. After that, simply recast Sleepel
as needed, and let poison finish off the enemy. This is a
particularly useful tactic early on, when your levels are low and
MP is in short supply.
iii. Don't decide to level up in the middle of nowhere; Do it near a
town where you have quick access to an Inn. Also, don't heal in
these situations until absolutely necessary, since you can always
run back to the Inn and get that HP back.
iv. Don't overload your guys with materia. Sure, a good compliment of
spells is helpful, but each materia equipped will cause a certain
percentage of HP loss, particularly the high powered spells like
Revive, Comet, Contain, and Ultima.
v. However, don't be a fool about it, either. ALWAYS have AT LEAST
two characters packing Restore and Revive materias. A pair of Time
materias is also a good idea.
vi. 'Remove' magic targets all enemies and vaporizes them, ending the
battle. Though you recieve the Exp. and AP for the fight, you WILL
NOT recieve any Gil or items. Keep this in mind.
vii. 'Remove', 'Comet 2', and 'Ultima' (I believe) are the only magics
that will target all enemies. Use this knowledge as you see fit.
ix. Treat Turbo Ethers like gold. Until the end of Disc 2, they are in
short supply.
*********************************** vi *******************************
CHARACTER RUNDOWN
I won't bother with any detailed character descriptions, but instead
reccommend party setups based on the characters' abilities:
BEGINNING OF THE GAME: Cloud (duh), Aeris, and Red XIII possess the
highest magic ratings here. Before you get Red, use Barret or Tifa,
it really doesn't much matter.
AFTER GOLD SAUCER: Cait Sith (yes, Cait Sith) should replace Red XIII.
This is one of many firsts I encountered in this challenge; I have
NEVER used the stuffed cat before, and generally consider him totally
useless. Turns out his Magic rating is incredible. Go figure.
AFTER AERIS' "INCIDENT": If you don't have Vincent at this piont, it's
time to recruit him. His Magic stat starts out lower than Red's, but
will eventually be on par with Aeris's.
CONCERNING YUFFIE: There are a couple of tiny pro's to getting the
ninja: One is the ability to fight in forests without running into
her, and the Turtle's Paradise prize- One each of the Source items
and a Megalixer- can only be gotten with her on the team. You will
also be allowed access to an Ice Ring before the Schizo boss fight,
which may prove helpful.
HOWEVER, getting Yuffie will force you to avoid Wutai for most, if
not all, of the game, OR force you into a time consuming and VERY
EXPENSIVE side quest. This will happen ANY TIME you arrive in
Wutai with Yuffie in tow for the first time.
GETTING YUFFIE IS IN NO WAY NECESSARY TO FINISH THE GAME. If you
decide you can't live without her, you will be losing several
(500-600) THOUSAND Gil.
In order to complete the Wutai materia quest within the
limitations of the rules, you cannot allow Yuffie to steal all of
your attack materia. How do you avoid this? Yuffie swipes your
materia with a given priority. The basic magics, Fire, Ice, Restore,
and Lightning, are at the bottom of the list, and will only be taken
if there aren't enough higher priority materia in the materia bag.
Since you are only allowed to have Magic materia in the bag, to keep
a given magic, you must load the materia bag full of the next-highest
priority materia. For instance, Yuffie will take Ice materia over
Fire materia, so to keep your Fire materia, you must have a load of
Ice materias. Below is a list adapted from Apathetic Aardvark's FF7
FAQ of the magic materias, the priority from highest to lowest in
which Yuffie will take them, the price of the materia, and where to
get the materia (if it says N/A, you can't buy the materia).
MATERIA COST
Master Magic N/A
Ultima N/A
Shield N/A
Full Cure N/A
Contain N/A
Comet N/A
Destruct 9000 (Mideel)
Gravity 8000 (Mideel)
Time 6000 (Gongaga,Rocket Town)
Barrier 10,000 (Rocket Town)
Exit 10,000 (Rocket Town)
Transform 5000 (North Corel,Gongaga,Cosmo Canyon,Mideel)
Mystify 6000 (Gongaga,Cosmo Canyon)
Seal 3000 (Costa Del Sol)
Revive 3000 (Junon,Costa Del Sol)
Earth 1500 (Kalm,Junon)
Poison 1500 (Kalm,Junon)
Heal 1500 (Kalm,Junon,Costa Del Sol,Gongaga)
Restore 750 (Midgar,Fort Condor,Junon,Costa Del Sol)
Lightning 600 (Midgar,Fort Condor,Junon,Costa Del Sol)
Ice 600 (Midgar,Fort Condor,Junon,Costa Del Sol)
Fire 600 (Midgar,Fort Condor,Junon,Costa Del Sol)
So, how badly do you want Yuffie?
*********************************** vii *******************************
WALKTHROUGH
GAME START- MAKO REACTOR #1
Open the menu and move Cloud to the back row. Check the guards for
potions (you can sell 'em later). Follow the AVALANCHE crew into the
reactor. You start with one measly Ether in your inventory, so try to
avoid fighting too much; Run away instead.
Talk to Biggs and Wedge to open the blast doors and grab the Phoenix
Down from the lower room on your way through.
Ride the elevator down into the reactor. After Jesse 'reminds' you
how to use a ladder, grab the Potion on the catwalk and climb down to the
Save Point.
Past here, you'll find a Restore materia lying on the ground. You have
no choice but to pick it up, which is nice, 'cause you'll be wanting this.
Set the bomb and prepare to fight.
BOSS:GUARD SCORPION
Only Cloud has magic, so only Cloud can attack. Guard Scorpion is a
mechanical enemy, and is weak to Lightning; 10 castings of Bolt will
bring it down. If Cloud's MP runs low, have Barret feed Cloud the Ether.
Also, since you cannot have a Restore materia equipped, you may use
Potions to heal FOR THIS BATTLE ONLY!!
MAKO REACTOR #1
You have 10 minutes to get out. Get in a few fights if you have any MP
left, and run like the wind. Remember to save Jesse on the way out (you
have to).
SECTOR 8
After meeting Aeris, you will be given the choice to fight or run from
the ShinRa guards. I mention this only because all of Cloud's HP and MP
have been restored, so even if you left the Reactor in critical, you can
still choose to fight.
SECTOR 7
Go to the bar and meet Tifa. After a good night's sleep ("Next to you,
who wouldn't?"... Heh), you get the ability to equip your materia.
Head out on the town and visit the Weapon Shop. Sell off any Potions
and Phoenix Downs you have, and unload the Assault Gun you got after the
Guard Scorpion fight. Buy a full compliment of Iron Bangles, then go
upstairs.
Just to the right of the door is an All materia. Pick it up and a
chest holding an Ether will drop. Take the Ether and ditch the materia.
Next, go down to the Item Shop to expand your materia collection. Pick
up a second Restore, two more Lightnings, and another Fire (if you can
afford it). Yes, this is the order of priority.
Equip everyone and head over to the Train Station.
TRAIN RIDE
After the alarm goes off, talk to these people as you move up the
train:
Car #1: The crazy old guy at the back of the car; He gives a Phoenix
Down
Car #2: The black guy at the front of the car closest to the screen
for a Hi-Potion
Car #3: There's a guy that randomly steals something from you. You
have to chase him down if you want it back.
SEWERS/SECTOR 5 REACTOR
Go up the tunnel to the security beams. Enter the ducts and pick up
another Ether.
Past this is a warehouse area. Either ladder will lead you to a room
with Jesse and a Potion. Talk to the Potion and grab Jesse... No, wait...
And go down the ladder on the left.
Use the Save Point in the next room and use the top ladder to leave.
This reactor is set up just like the last one. Use the slide to get
to the bottom, then go down into the reactor core and set the bomb.
There is another Ether in the room after the elevator, where you have
to push the three buttons to open the door. Just past the door is a Save
Point, a few steps further, a Boss.
BOSS:AIRBUSTER
Hammer it with Bolt, use Ethers to keep your MP up, and keep a close
eye on your health. Use Cure as soon as you start to need it, because
if you lose anyone, you can't bring them back!
SECTOR 5 SLUMS
Verbally abuse Aeris if you like, then hook her up with some materia.
Ice is a good choice, and sinking more AP into Restore or Bolt won't hurt
either.
When it comes time to push the barrels for Aeris, push the top left,
then the top right, then bottom right and she'll be safe. Or just make
her fight it out; Your choice. If you have her fight, blast the enemies
with Ice- they don't seem to like that much.
Once you're out of the church, it's a short hike to town. You can pick
up some more materia if you need it, upgrade your armors, and dump any
unwanted items. MAKE SURE you visit the sleeping boy in the house on the
left, just below the Weapon Shop. You'll find the Turtle's Paradise
Flyer #1 if you're dead set on getting Yuffie and completing that quest,
but, more importantly, if you talk to the boy and open the hidden drawer
in his cabinet, you'll find 5 Gil! DON"T TAKE IT!!! What kind of jerk
rips off a little kid?
When you're done here, go on over to Aeris's house. You'll find an
Ether in the garden. Go inside and take a little nap, then grab the
Potion and Phoenix Down near the door and skip town.
WALL MARKET
Your main purpose here is to get into Don Corneo's mansion, so go about
getting a dress and wig at least. If you want to do the extra credit and
get REALLY dolled up, go ahead.
Before you get done in town, though, check out the Weapons Shop for
some Mythril Armlets and new weapons, if you want them. You shouldn't
really need any new weapons at this point, as you should be able to
accomodate your limited materia selection in the armor slots.
Once you're in the mansion, you can grab an Ether in the basement. If
Cloud isn't pretty enough for the Don, you'll find a Phoenix Down in the
room he's sent to, and there's a Hyper in the Don's room.
SEWERS
As soon as you can, update Tifa's armor and equip as many characters as
you can with Fire materia, because it's about to be useful.
BOSS:APS
The Don's pet isn't what you'd call a terribly bright critter... In
fact, it's pretty damn stupid. It uses an attack called Sewer Tsunami,
which, often enough, deals more damage to Aps itself than your guys. It
also uses Lick to inflict Sadness on your party members, but since we're
not using Limits anyway, who cares?
Aps has a definite, exploitable weakness to Fire, so when it's not
beating itself up with Sewer Tsunami, you should be cooking his backside.
This is an absurdly easy fight, really.
SEWERS
After beating Aps, get out of the sewers.
TRAIN GRAVEYARD
There's a lot of stuff to pick up here, so check all the nooks and
crannies. You'll also be ambushed by some nasty beasties, so be careful.
Make your way out of the train wrecks and head over to the Sector 7
pillar.
SECTOR 7 PILLAR
Save your game and climb the pillar. Avoid fighting on the way up to
conserve MP.
At the top, you'll meet back up with Barret and be given a chance to
equip him. Set him up with new equipment and a Fire or Ice materia for
the next boss.
BOSS:RENO
Reno uses a cheap attack called Pyramid to incapacitate one of your
party members. You can destroy the Pyramid by targetting it, though.
Work Reno over with Fire or Ice magic and keep all of your guys
standing.
SECTOR 6
You'll wind up back in the playground. After some dialogue, return to
Aeris's house.
As you pass back through the Sector 5 Slums, go back to the sleeping
boy's house. He's awake now, and, if you were honest enough to leave
his money, he'll hook you up with a Turbo Ether.
When you're done here, head back over to Wall Market.
WALL MARKET
A few points about this place: First, you MUST have 300 Gil to
progress. Second, this is a good place to pick up some levels, as a
stay at the Inn runs a mere 10 Gil and Sector 6 is right outside.
Also, the Materia Shop is open, if you need to add to your collection.
When you're ready to move on, visit the Weapons Shop and dump 300 Gil
on a set of batteries.
On your way up the "Golden Shiny Wire of Hope", there is an optional
battery slot that opens a chest holding an Ether, so be sure to get it.
SHINRA HQ
If you bust in the front, you'll be faced with a number of MP sucking
random battles on the way up. You can also find the second Turtle's
Paradise flyer this way. Taking the stairs is a boring, but safer, trip.
Either way, you'll end up on the 59th floor.
59th FLOOR
Fight the guards for Keycard 60
60th FLOOR
You can sneak through, or fight it out. After getting caught four or
five times, the guards will vanish.
61st FLOOR
There's a suit wandering around with Keycard 62. He'll give it to you
if you stay cool.
62nd FLOOR
You have to guess the Mayor's password. Doing so on the first try
scores you an Elemental materia, which you won't be using anyway, so just
guess until you get it.
63rd FLOOR
You don't have to go here, but you'll get a Four Slot armor, Star
Pendant, and an All materia if you do.
Go to the very top of the room and open the rightmost vertical door.
From there, go to the leftmost horizontal door above the row of rooms and
open that.
Go into the left room and get the Item Coupon, then enter the ducts.
go through the ducts to the right-center room for another Item Coupon. Go
through the door and go directly left. Open your third door to get into
the blue light room. Get the last Item Coupon, then head back to the
ducts and go through them to the computer room.
64th FLOOR
Go through the lockers, rest, and save. MAKE SURE you bang on the
vending machine before you leave.
65th FLOOR
Ah, the Midgar Model. Place the parts to open chests. The sound
signals really work if you're playing in stereo. You'll end up with
Keycard 66.
66th FLOOR
Flush the toilet a couple times, then climb into the ceiling to spy on
the meeting. Follow the ShinRa crew to the 67th floor.
67th FLOOR
Grab the Poison materia, save, and ride the elevator to the next
floor. Put that Star Pendant on one of your guys.
68th FLOOR
Trade Red XIII for one of your guys and get ready to rumble.
BOSS:HO512 and SAMPLES
Ignore the little things; They just respawn. Pound HO512 with Fire
and stay on top of curing everyone with poison. Red XIII starts with
Fire-All; You MUST select individual targets- All is not legal.
68th FLOOR
Trash Red XIII's Sense and All.
67th FLOOR
Take a nap in your cell. When you wake up, you can go. Follow the
blood trail.
After meeting Rufus, take a second to equip everyone. Give Aeris, Red
and Barret Lightning materias and at least one Restore before sending
them along.
BOSS:HUNDRED GUNNER and HELI GUNNER
Both of these bosses are machines, so abuse Bolt and heal when you
need it.
After the fight, the scene returns to Cloud. Give him the Poison
materia, Restore, and Fire or Bolt. Continue when you're ready.
BOSS:RUFUS and DARK NATION
Start by hitting both Rufus and Dark Nation with Bio. Once both are
poisoned, lay into Dark Nation with Fire or Bolt until it drops, then turn
your attention to Rufus. Heal when necessary and leave the real work to
the poison.
HIGHWAY CHASE
Set up your party in reverse order (front row instead of back) and give
everyone a Lightning materia. Use Cloud, Aeris, and Red XIII.
Ride your bike and try not to lose too much HP on the way down.
BOSS:MOTOR BALL
Use the escape buttons immediately as the battle begins to avoid taking
back damage. Then start pounding it with Bolt.
It's important to keep a close eye on your HP in this battle. Motor
Ball has an attack called Rolling Fire that can deal upwards of 200 HP
damage to the ENTIRE PARTY!
Tear Motor Ball down and you'll earn the right to leave Midgar.
WORLD MAP
Make a party of Cloud, Aeris, and Red XIII and set out for Kalm.
KALM
You're going to have to participate in the annoying Cloud's Past event
while you're here, so whether you do it now or later is up to you.
Make sure you check out all of the houses in town; There are 3 Ethers,
a Guard Source, and a Peacemaker ripe for the plucking. Also, Kalm's
shops have some materia you haven't seen yet, Earth and Heal, and Poison
is for sale as well. It might be time to upgrade your weapons to match
your growing materia collection.
After putting up with Cloud's flashback, you may want to spend some
time in the area gaining levels, since it's only 20 Gil to stay at the
Kalm Inn.
CHOCOBO RANCH
There's pretty much no reason to go here, unless you want to pick up a
Mimmett Green that will be collecting dust in your inventory for a VERY
LONG time. Be advised that you must waste 2000 Gil on the Chocobo Lure
materia before Choco Hillbilly will let you buy greens.
You can rest here by going in the house and walking into the bedroom,
but it'll set you back a hundred Gil.
BOSS:MIDGAR ZOLOM
The Zolom is a boss only in the sense that it is an ultra-powerful
enemy and can only be found in one place. However, you may fight it
several times, so it is not a boss. Either way you look at it, you'll
probably have to fight it, unless you use a trick to bypass it.
BE WARNED: The Midgar Zolom horribly outmatches you at this point. It
has astronomical HP, brutal attack power, and a viscious final strike,
Beta, that will likely obliterate you.
Yet, even this monstrosity has a weak point. Start by using Bio on the
Zolom until it is poisoned. Following that, hammer it with Ice or Bolt
until it stands up.
Now, CEASE ATTACKING!! Keep your guys alive while poison slowly kills
the cobra off. Note that the Zolom still has about 2000 HP when it stands
up, so this process will take some time. According to what I've found,
Midgar Zolom will refuse to cast Beta unless it has knocked at least one
of you party members from the field, which is what it does when it is
attacked while standing.
As soon as the battle ends, be running full tilt toward the cave on
the far side of the swamp. If the next Zolom catches up to you before
you make it, press the Menu button at the VERY LAST SECOND. Use Cure
magic to heal and/or PHS out your dead and do it again.
MYTHRIL MINE
Take what's left of your team (or PHS in new guys to replace your dead)
and go into the mine. From the entrance, go right for a Tent and an
Ether.
Exit this room and go to the bottom of the main room for a Mind Source,
then out the left.
After meeting the Turks, climb the vines and head back to the world
map.
WORLD MAP
You have an opportunity to get Yuffie at this point. Unless you're
obscenely rich, DON'T!! If you must have Yuffie, wait!
From here you can go directly to Junon Harbor, or stop at Fort Condor.
Since Fort Condor's on the way, and provides you with a free place to rest
for the remainder of the game, you might want to stop in. Note that you
will need at least 4000 Gil if you plan on playing the minigame.
FORT CONDOR
In order to rest and save, you must first agree to help fight off the
ShinRa. Whether you keep your word, however, is up to you, though you
can get some helpful items by participating. This does require you to
invest your own Gil.
Playing the first round of the minigame will get you Red XIII's Magic
Comb, the first double growth weapon you'll find.
WORLD MAP
Before going on to Junon, you'll want to be packing around 20,000 Gil.
JUNON HARBOR
Put your party together and equip them. Once again, Cloud, Red, and
Aeris are the way to go. Give everyone a Lightning materia, and have a
couple Restores on hand. When you're ready, head down to the beach.
BOSS: BOTTOMSWELL
Bottomswell, being a water dwelling type of creature, doesn't seem to
care too much for being electrocuted, so that should be your mode of
attack; Unless you happen to have any level 2 magic.
There are only two important points of mention with this boss. The
first is its bubble attack, much like Reno's Pyramid, except the bubble
slowly suffocates your character as well as taking them out of the fight.
Pop the bubble quickly by targetting it with magic.
Second is Bottomswell's final attack, Big Wave. Keep your HP above
150 to avoid going under with the beast.
JUNON HARBOR
With Bottomswell out of the way, you now have to give Priscilla CPR.
Can you say "statutory", boys and girls? Sure, I knew you could. Anyway,
get the kid breathing again, and you'll be rewarded with a "free" night
of sleep, complete with the obligatory interruption by the infamous
Mysterious Voice.
After that, Priscilla gives you the Shiva materia. Throw it out and
join your underage girlfriend on the beach for some wholesome dolphin
jumping fun.
Soaking wet and climbing a superconductive high voltage tower... Well,
luckily, in the Final Fantasy world, things like static discharge and
electrical fields don't exist, so you can safely climb to Junon.
JUNON
For now you have to take part in Rufus's inaugurational parade. If
you can manage to get a rating of 40 to 49 percent, you'll be rewarded
with six Ethers; Better than 50 percent will get you 5000 Gil.
You will then be dismissed and allowed to check out Junon. You can
find several Source items scattered around town, and shops containing new
materia and weapons. Of greatest interest is the availability of the
Revive materia, which you should certainly invest in. Don't bother
picking up a new sword for Cloud just yet, though...
Once you're done looking around, go on over to the docks for the send
off ceremony. Try to get Rufus's Mood Meter above 100 (it isn't too hard)
and you'll get a doble growth Force Stealer for Cloud.
SHINRA BOAT
There's an Ether in the lower hold. Grab it and go up the stairs. Now
you have to search all over the boat for your companions. After you find
Barret, an alarm will sound. Meet back up with the rest of the crew and
form your party. Give your guys Fire materias, and have your Restores and
Revives equipped to pick up some good AP from the boss waiting downstairs.
BOSS:JENOVA-BIRTH
Jenova-BIRTH will hit your guys with Stop, which might hamper you some.
For this reason, it's important to have two Restore materias, in case your
healer is locked up.
It also uses Tail Laser, which can easily shear 200 HP from EACH of
your party members, double that if it uses it twice.
Beat Jenova and you'll get an Ifrit materia (useless) and arrive in
Costa Del Sol.
COSTA DEL SOL
From the docks, you'll go over a bridge. Enter the first door you come
to and go into the basement to find a Motor Drive, Fire Ring, and Power
Source, all particularly useful items.
The Weapons Shop has some new armors for sale, but there's nothing else
you haven't seen before.
After shopping around, it's time to get a tan. Go down to the beach
to meet Hojo and find out where to go next.
MT. COREL
When you reach the roller coaster tracks,there are parts that break
under you. Fall down the holes and jam on the circle button while holding
left or right to get a Wizard Staff and another Star Pendant.
There's a Transform materia lying on the tracks.
Across from the bridge control shack, you'll hear chirping as you come
around the hill. Climb up to find a nest and a fight. Win the fight for
ten Phoenix Downs to sell.
Directly below the bird nest is a set of tracks that curves around
behind the hill. Follow them down to find a cave where you can pick up a
Power Source, Mind Source, and a Tent. Then get back on the tracks and
follow them out to North Corel.
NORTH COREL
If you missed the Force Sealer in Junon, you can get one here. Other
than that, you're just passing through on your way to the Gold Saucer.
GOLD SAUCER
Before you go up here, you'll want plenty of Gil. You'll likely only
need a one day pass (3000 Gil) for now, but the reason you want extra
cash is you can finally buy Ethers... For 1500 Gil a pop.
The item shop is inside the Hotel, by the way, as is another Turtle's
Paradise flyer, if you're looking for them.
You'll eventually meet up with Cait Sith here. Give him a name, trash
his non-magic materia, and swap Red XIII's materia onto him. That's
right, Cait Sith, the most useless of utterly useless characters ever
devised, should replace Red in the main party. Turns out he's not so
useless after all...
From there, it's on to the Battle Square, where you'll be tried,
judged, and sentenced for a deed you didn't do.
COREL PRISON
Track Barret down. Be careful of the Bandits, who steal your stuff.
If you kill them fast enough, you get it back, otherwise, it's gone for
good.
After Barret tells his story, you're stuck with him in the main party.
Give him your best materia setup and go north out of town to find his
old buddy.
BOSS:DYNE
Barrett goes up against Dyne alone. Staying on top of your HP is your
greatest concern here, as Dyne can wear you down fairly quickly.
Poison Dyne first thing, then hit him hard with your most powerful
magic and keep your HP up to survive his Molotov final attack.
GOLD SAUCER CHOCOBO RACE
Just win the race to move on.
GONGAGA VILLAGE
Upon entering the jungle around Gongaga, you'll walk into a fight with
the Turks. Equip your Fire Ring before going too far.
BOSS:RENO and RUDE
Go after Rude first, as he's the healer in this fight. Both bosses
are succeptable to poison, so get that going first, then blast them with
all you've got.
GONGAGA VILLAGE
This is your first opportunity to get the Time materia, which is a
good investment. There's also a new weapon for Cait Sith in the top-
right building.
COSMO CANYON
Red XIII's hometown is the location of not one, but two more of the
Turtle's Paradise flyers; One near the Weapon Shop and one in the Inn.
There are a lot of new weapons on hand, and you can refill your Ether
stock.
You central task here is to meet up with Bugenhagen and learn about
Mako energy. Once that's done, you'll go to the Cave of the Gi.
CAVE OF THE GI
As you pass through the cave, be on the lookout for the Black Megaphone
and an Ether in the second room, and a Fairy Ring and Turbo Ether in the
third.
In this third room, you'll have to fight a number of Stingers, another
non-boss boss type creature.
BOSS:STINGER
The Stinger is no joke. Its Sting Bomb attack can tear you apart in
seconds flat.
Waste no time healing when battling a Stnger, and abuse your most
powerful magic. You can also turn this tiger into a kitten with Sleepel,
Bio, and Toad.
CAVE OF THE GI
Before you venture into the final chamber, just past the Stingers,
equip Fire protection. Have all of your Restore and Revive materia
equipped.
BOSS:GI NATTAK
Gi Nattak seems like a formidable opponent at first, until you exploit
its weakness: Gi Nattak is undead, and vulnerable to both Cure and Life.
Hit it with your highest level Cure spell to damage it, and cast Life
for an instant kill, if the spell connects. Note that hitting Gi Nattak
with Cure a couple times, THEN using Life, seems to increase the chances
of Life connecting.
Defeating Gi Nattak gets you a Wizer Staff for Aeris and a Gravity
materia.
After a cutscene, it's off to Nibelheim.
NIBELHEIM
You'll find two Luck Sources, a Turbo Ether, and a Platinum Fist in
Cloud and Tifa's hometown.
Inside the mansion, you'll have a run in with Sephiroth, who will drill
you with a Destruct materia before flying away Matrix style. He is The
One, you know...
You can also try to get Vincent now. You will need Slow, Bio2 or 3,
and Regen. Go upstairs to the safe. Enter:
RIGHT 36, LEFT 10, RIGHT 59, RIGHT 97
BOSS:LOST NUMBER
Cast Slow and Bio_ (strongest you have) first thing. Regen and Haste
your guys, then unload your strongest magics on Lost Number. If you keep
getting trounced, come back later with Comet, Barrier, and Bio3 (at least)
and a few more levels on you and try again.
If you take him down, congratulations, you've got Vincent. You can
replace Aeris with him now, or wait until she gets up close and personal
with Sephiroth's sword.
MT. NIBEL
Cloud and Red XIII's second double growth weapons reside here, along
the first winding path.
When you reach the reactor, you can jump down chute number two to reach
Tifa's Powersoul. Jump down from here and run past the big spider thing
to save. Talk to the spider top fight it.
BOSS:MATERIA KEEPER
Materia keeper absorbs fire, so employ your strongest Ice and Bolt
spells in this fight. You can also poison the beast.
When its HP gets low, Materia Keeper will heal itself with Cure2. Keep
the heat (or cold, or electricity, as it were) on and be ready for Trine,
and you'll put it away soon enough.
ROCKET TOWN
You'll find a Power Source here. Be sure to check out the shops; You
can get Gold Armlets and Earrings (Magic+10) at the Weapon Shop, and the
Item Shop sells Ethers, as well as the Barrier, Exit, and Time materias.
After you're done roaming around, go to Cid's house to meet Shera, then
go meet the Captain. Return to Cid's house and eventually, after a
cutscene with some of my absolute favorite music in the game, you'll get
to beat up on a fat man...
BOSS:PALMER
Palmer's a jerkoff. Blast him with your best magic and you'll have a
shiny new Edincoat in no time. If you need the help, poison him.
WORLD MAP
Now that you've got the Tiny Bronco, you can get ahold of some new
stuff. Take the plane north to Bone Village and you'll be able to buy
Diamond Bangles and Rune Armlets, a four-slot, double growth armor.
Next, you can visit Wutai without having your materia stolen and get
some new weapons.
Swing back by Fort Condor; You should be able to do another battle and
win... Something.
You can also return to Junon and set off the alarm in the tunnel (it's
a big red button by the soldiers). The fights are hard as hell, but the
Exp., AP, and Gil payoff is ungodly, and it's only 30 Gil to stay at the
Inn.
When you're ready to move the story along, go back to the Gold Saucer
(you'll need to get another pass).
GOLD SAUCER
Go to the Battle Square. The Keystone is in Dios' Showroom, and you
can have it if you agree to fight for Dio. You don't have to win all
eight battles, but you'll get a Protect Vest and a Choco Feather if you
do.
You've got the Keysyone, but, of course, you can't leave; The tram's
broke.
Spend the night at the Ghost Hotel and do the date event. While you're
out gettin' your mack on, Cait Sith heists the Keystone and turns it over
to the Turks. Follow them to the Temple of the Ancients.
TEMPLE OF THE ANCIENTS
There's stuff scattered all over this place. You don't really have to
go out of your way to collect anything on the maze screen, it's all along
the path.
Next is the stone trap, then the clock. Don't bother getting knocked
down for the Nail Bat, as it has no materia slots. Check door IV for
Aeris's Princess Guard, door VII for a Trumpet Shell, and, most
importantly, door V for the almighty Ribbon. Then go through door VI.
In the next room, chase the Ancient down for the key. Now's a good
time to rest and save, before you enter the next room.
BOSS:RED DRAGON
Hit the dragon with your most powerful Bio as soon as the battle
begins. Slow the beast for a speed advantage, then pound it with Bio2 or
3, Ice, Lightning... Anything but Fire.
TEMPLE OF THE ANCIENTS
When you're allowed to leave the room, rest and save again, then
proceed back through the clock room. Equip the Ribbon and Jem Ring(s)
before venturing through the door.
BOSS:DEMON'S GATE
Start by casting Slow on the Gate. This boss is incredibly fast, even
when slowed, so Haste your party as well. Keep on top of your HP, and
have Esuna ready to counter the Petrif-Eye attack. You will probably need
to dedicate one character to healing and feeding the others Ethers.
Demon's Gate is immune to Poison and Gravity, resists Earth, and has an
ultra high magic defense. Use your strongest Fire, Ice, and Bolt spells,
and pray.
GONGAGA
Cloud will awaken in the Inn and prompt you to head north. Aeris is
gone, so put Vincent or Red XIII and Cait Sith in the party and load them
up with materia.
BONE VILLAGE
Tell the guy you want the "Lunar Harp" and place your workers on the
top level near the tent. There's a spot on the left side of the tent,
just below the eye hole in the skull, that looks like an X on the ground;
This is pretty much where you want to be digging.
Once you've got the Harp, take it out the top of Bone Village and into
the forest.
SLEEPING FOREST
The Kjata materia is floating around here, not like you care. What you
should care about, though, is the Water Ring stashed under the hollow log
on the screen that looks like a tropical fishtank.
CITY OF THE ANCIENTS
Start by going up the left path to find a Magic Source, Aurora Armlet,
and a Save point.
The right path will lead you to a Guard Source and a house where you
can get a quick nap before you have to wake up in the middle of the night.
This means it's time to check out the center path. Enter the shell
house and climb all the way to the top for the Comet materia. Take a
second to put that and the Water Ring on your favorite character, then go
down the crystal stairs.
Stop by the Save point, then try to remember what it felt like the
first time you witnessed the next set of events...
BOSS:JENOVA-LIFE
All of Jenova-LIFE's attacks are water based, so though two of your
guys are likely to be obliterated, the one wearing the Water Ring is
utterly invincible. Handle this fight any way you please, since you
could literally use foul language to defeat Jenova with no worry of
losing.
Actually, you need to either Dispel Jenova's Reflect evry time it uses
it, or just use Comet, since it is a piercing attack and doesn't give a
damn about Reflect.
DISC 2
CORRAL VALLEY CAVE
Follow Sephiroth out of the City of the Ancients and hop up the twisty
shell ladder to enter the cave.
About halfway up the screen, on the left side, you can pick up a Bolt
Armlet; Other than that, there's nothing of practical value here.
In the next room is a chest with a Power Source in it. Grab it and
exit.
WORLD MAP
It's a long walk to Icicle Inn, but it can be relatively easy if you
keep in mind that all of the enemies here are weak to Fire magic.
ICICLE INN
There's a Turbo Ether downstairs in Professor Gast's house. You'll
need to pick up the Glacier Map from the house on the right.
When you try to leave town, Elena shows up and swings on you; Dodge it
or take it, it doesn't much matter, then visit the kid in the middle house
to get a snowboard and head out the top of town.
GREAT GLACIER
Go left twice on the way down the hill and you'll land in a wooded
area. Hidden in the trees is a Mind Source; Get it and exit to the right.
Eventually, you'll turn up at a frozen lake.
Run up the ice, pick up a Potion, and continue out the top of the
screen.
You'll find yourself at a semi-annoying puzzle that requires you to
jump on floating ice chunks. Get past it and crawl into a cave with a
Safety Bit inside.
After that, wander around until you pass out and wake up at Holzoff's
house.
GAEA'S CLIFF
Save in Mr. Holzoff's place, then go outside and practice being
Sylvester Stallone's stunt double.
Make your way up the cliff, stopping to mash the square button on each
ledge, and enter the first cave.
Inside the cave, go up until you enter a door. Go left from the door
and down, back into the first room. Go down and right across the ice
bridge, and STRAIGHT INTO THE WALL. This puts you in a secret room
holding another Ribbon!
--A MILLION THANKS, PROPS, AND GOOD TIDINGS TO APATHETIC AARDVARK FOR
THIS INFORMATION. I HAVE OWNED THIS GAME LITERALLY SINCE IT WAS RELEASED,
PLAYED IT COUNTLESS TIMES SINCE I GOT IT, AND I NEVER, I MEAN NEVER, KNEW
ABOUT THIS ROOM, NO LIE.--
Just outside the secret room, go up. Pick up the Javelin and enter the
doorway.
Go across this bridge and into a cave, up to the big rock. Shove that
bad boy over and go back the way you came. Back in the first room, go up
the path that was previously blocked by ice. Follow the path up and out.
Climb up to the next cave. Inside is a Save point and a door you can't
get to yet, and another door on the left. Enter the left door and you'll
be outside. As you run down the path, you're likely to encounter
Marlboros; You can fight or run, just remember they're pretty tough.
The outdoor path leads to a room with four large icicles in it. To the
right of the doorway is a Fire Armlet; You'll be wanting that soon.
Fight and defeat the four icicles (you only have to kill the icicle in
battle- you can ignore the bats, one Fire3 should do it) and jump to the
room below. You can now reach the Speed Source and the previously
inaccessable door.
Back outside, you'll find a chest holding Cloud's Enhance Sword, which
has eight slots. Follow the winding path around, back through the icicle
room, and outto the cliff.
Play Cliffhanger one last time and get into the last cave. There's a
Save point and a hot spring that will restore your HP and MP- use both.
Then, equip your guys: Give one the Aurora Armlet AND Fire Ring, another
the Fire Armlet (and Ice Ring, if you got Yuffie and did the pagoda), and
the last the Dragon Armlet. From the Save point go down an icy hall to
meet a boss.
BOSS:SCHIZO
Schizo's right head is fire based, and the left is ice based. Since
one (or two) of your characters absorbs or nullifies these elements, that
character is nigh invincible. You still have to be on your toes for the
Quake3 Schizo will use on your entire party, and the final attack EACH
head uses, but otherwise, you're good.
Use Comet and Bolt on either head, or Fire and Ice on the head that's
weak to either magic. Focus on one head at a time, so you have a chance
to heal after the first final attack, instead of getting blasted by both.
THE CRATER
Tifa will be forced into the party; Equip two of your guys with the
Fire Armlet, Fire Ring, and the Ribbons before moving too far into the
crater.
After a few of the wind crossing mini-puzzle things, you'll run into
Sephiroth again.
BOSS:JENOVA-DEATH
Jenova-DEATH's attacks are all fire based, so this time around you only
have to worry about one characters' HP. It uses Silence, as well, but the
Ribbons will counter that. Like LIFE, you can handle this fight however
you like.
THE CRATER
Press on to the center of the crater and give Sephiroth the Black
materia, wake the Weapons, and otherwise unleash total choas upon the
world. Good job, dude...
JUNON
You're scheduled to be executed. Tifa gets her turn first, and you'll
be in control of Barret and Cait Sith. Set them up with materia and head
to the airport.
Meanwhile, you have to get Tifa out of the gas chamber. Get the key
with her feet, then get it to her mouth (Tifa's VERY limber), and free
her hands, then go to the door.
Weapon will help you out before getting a frontal lobotomy; Climb up
and run to the end of the cannon. Mess up Scarlet's face (even more) and
swan dive off the Sister Ray... Happy Birthday, you've got a shiny new
Highwind.
WORLD MAP
If you neglected to get a Mimmet Green way back when, go get one now,
then breeze down to Mideel.
MIDEEL
Roam around town and check out the shops. You can get 8-slot Wizard
Bracelets here for ONLY 12,000 Gil each; Each of the element rings is
available, and by giving the white chocobo your Samolen (Mimmet) Green
and tickling it behind the ear, it'll puke out a Contain materia.
The building farthest from the town entrance is the clinic; That's
where you'll find Cloud. Talk to him and Tifa will eventually bail out
of the party.
HIGHWIND
After Cid is appointed leader, you have to visit both Fort Condor and
North Corel to collect the Huge Materia. You can go to either first, but
Fort Condor's closer and easier.
Before you do that, though, return to Cosmo Canyon and go to the Item
shop. The rope by the counter is down, and you can get to the Full Cure
materia.
Also, at this point, if you want to start growing materia, Mideel is a
great place to gain AP. Also, the green grasshopper things here drop
Ethers, and you can always use more of those. The big worms on the beach
occassionally drop Turbo Ethers, as well.
FORT CONDOR
Go upstairs and play the minigame. When it comes time to set units,
DON'T!! Simply start the game and wait for the enemy to reach the shed.
Fight Commander Grandhorn and when you win, you'll get the Phoenix
materia, Huge Materia, AND an Imperial Guard.
BOSS:CMD. GRANDHORN
Cast Bio3, Freeze, and Comet. Repeat if neccesary.
NORTH COREL
Make your way back to the reactor and fight some guards, then chase the
train. You have ten minutes to make it up four cars, the coal car, and
stop the engine. The encounters in each car must be completed quickly to
ensure success.
-CAR #4
1 Gas Ducter; Anything but Bio works.
-CAR #3
2 Gas Ducters; Just like last time, only two of them.
-CAR #2
Wolfmeister; Bio3 and Comet.
-CAR #1
Eagle Gun; Bolt3 it as fast as you can.
-COAL CAR
Shinra Attack Squad; Use anything you like, he's pathetic.
-ENGINE
This type of locomotive is known as a Climax style, as indicated by the
angled drive pistons. Anyways, after speeding through the conversation,
you have to alternate the levers to stop the train. Or something like
that. I don't know. I always get yelled at, "Stop, it's going faster!",
and then the train stops anyway.
Pull it off and you get the Huge Materia and Ultima; Screw it up and
not only do you lose the Huge Materia, but Ultima will cost you FIFTY
THOUSAND big ones.
Head back to Mideel. Before entering town, get that Ultima materia
up and running.
MIDEEL
Visit Cloud and Ultimate Weapon will show up.
BOSS:ULTIMATE WEAPON
You only have a few turns to deal as much damage as you can before
Ultimate ducks out. Use Comet1 or 2, level 3 magics, Contain, Ultima-
Whatever deals it out fast and hard.
You won't get Exp. or AP from this fight, so unless ALL of your guys
are in mortal danger, keep laying it on Ultimate, even if it costs you a
party member or two.
CLOUD'S SUBCONSCIOUSNESS
Ooohhhh boooyyy! My FAVORITE part of the game!!
Talk to the top Cloud first. Wait a half an hour, then talk to the
left side Cloud. Like fake-ass-psychic Sylvia Brown says, "look in the
well".
After that, go to the right and peek in Tifa's window... She's naked!
Okay, no she's not. When that's done, go back to the top Cloud.
There's an hour you'll never get back...
MIDEEL
The chcobo and its pet retard are selling weapons now, in case you
still want Wizard Bracelets. The maid is working full time selling her...
Accessories, and that's about it for your needs.
HIGHWIND
With Cloud back in charge, you're directed to the Underwater Reactor at
Junon. First, it's time to train. Get the ENTIRE party to level 50 or
better, get at least two each of Time, Revive, and Barrier materias; Grow
the Barriers to MBarrier at least, Wall if possible, and three each
Restore with Cure3 learned, Lightning with Bolt3 learned. Get Crystal
weapons from Mideel for everyone as well.
Is this all neccesary? Depends on how many times you want to see the
Game Over screen...
UNDERWATER REACTOR
Pay 10 Gil to ride the elevator back up to Junon. Run back down the
tunnel with the alarm, where the troops are practicing, and go to the
elevator at the end. Follow the path to another elevator.
You'll end up in a glass tunnel underwater... Remember Jaws 3? At the
end is the elevator to the reactor.
There's a Save point inside the reactor. If you're underprepared,
don't use it- It's a long way back out.
When you get to the reactor core, where the claw pulls the Huge Materia
out, take a second to get your guys back up to full HP/MP before you enter
the submarine dock, and equip them properly.
Put Crystal weapons on everybody. Give your strongest caster Ultima;
Give Barrier, Time, and Revives to the other two, and put Restores and
Lightnings on all three. When you're ready, step into the sub dock.
BOSS:CARRY ARMOR
NOTICE: EVERY TIME Carry Armor uses Lapis Laser, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY
break your attack pattern and HEAL!!! EVERY TIME!!!! Have each character
Cure3 themself, then pick up where you left off. This is, hands down,
probably THE HARDEST BOSS FIGHT IN THE GAME, I kid you not.
From the outset of the battle, have your strongest mage cast Ultima
every turn. The others should cast Haste on the party, then MBarrier or
Wall.
Once Haste and MBarrier/Wall are up, your two support characters should
begin to cast Bolt3, focussing their attacks on ONE ARM AT A TIME. When
one arm is destroyed, switch to the other. When both are gone, the ENTIRE
PARTY should start using Bolt3 on the body.
This, of course, implies a perfect run where Carry Armor never employs
its super ultra mega cheap skate ass arm grab attack- Which it will. When
this happens, focus all your efforts on destroying the arm with Bolt3,
then return to the previous strategy.
With a little luck, you'll beat it.
SUBMARINE DOCK
Run back to the grey sub. Right in front of it is Cid's triple growth
Scimitar; You might want that...
Climb into the sub and save, then take over the submarine and get that
Huge Materia!
SUB BATTLE
You start out right behind the Red Sub. Speed up, get a lock, and dump
all of your torpedoes into it.
UNDERWATER
The sub surfaces on its own and you'll be directed to Rocket Town.
You can go, or jump back in the sub and check out the Sunken Gelinka, pick
up the Huge Materia from the red sub, and get the Key to the Ancients from
a cave up north.
CRASHED GELINKA
You'll run into Reno and Rude here, in the main hall.
BOSS:RENO and RUDE
Hammer them with your strongest spells; It won't take long.
CRASHED GELINKA
With the Turks out of the way, you're free to explore the plane. There
are a lot of tough enemies down here, but the Exp., AP, and Gil rewards
sort of make up for it.
When you get bored, surface and continue on with the story. As an
intermission, if you don't have Vincent yet, you should be more than able
to get him now.
ROCKET TOWN
Cid is forced into the party here, so you may as well equip him with
that Scimitar and gain something from it. As you climb the rocket, you'll
run into Rude again... Some people just don't learn.
BOSS:RUDE
One Ultima should take care of Rude's goons, then use Comet and Contain
to polish Rude off.
SHINRA NO. 26
The Huge Materia's in here. Once Cid finishes his speech, climb up the
ladder and go adter it. The code is Circle, Square, X, X, (O,[],X,X)-
enter it and the materia's all yours.
As a side note, you'd think leaving the Huge Materia in the rocket
would make the explosion in the next cutscene bigger, but it doesn't. Go
figure.
HIGHWIND
It's time to go back to Cosmo Canyon and pick up Bugenhagen, then go
on a field trip to the City of the Ancients.
CITY OF THE ANCIENTS
Return to the very back section, where you picked up the Aurora Armlet.
Bugenhagen will fire up the Ancient device, then, since you already got
the Key to the Ancients (you did, right?), you'll skip right to the next
part: Weapon gettin' it on.
MIDGAR
Park near the coast and wait for Diamond Weapon to show up. It takes
about 17 hours to make the trip, so have a snack or something.
BOSS:DIAMOND WEAPON
Diamond Weapon was MADE for this challenge. It has a high physical
defense, but magic kicks its ass. Lay into it with Ultima, Comet,
Contain... All your strong shots. When Diamond begins its countdown, it's
setting up its Diamond Flash attack. At 2 or 1, cease attacking and wait
for the attack to go off, then cure everyone and contrinue your assault.
Fight it until it makes like a tree and gets outta there.
WORLD MAP
After Rufus dusts Diamond Weapon for you and blasts open the North
Crater, you're supposed to visit the crater.
Before that, though, Ultimate Weapon is hanging around just begging to
be stomped on, so strap on your boots and go get 'em.
BOSS:ULTIMATE WEAPON
Ultimate, being a giant flying pansy, will only hang around for a few
turns before it runs like a five-year-old girl. Since it likes to engage
in battle in a couple spots that will force you to advance the plot
(Midgar and North Crater), you have to X it out in as few encounters as
you can.
You will find Ultimate hanging out near Junon the first time. Ram it
to get it to fight.
Fighting Ultimate is straightforward: Use Ultima, Comet, and Flare (if
you have it) until it runs away. It will usually dump its Ultima Beam on
you before it does, so make sure one of your guys, at least, can survive
it.
Chase it down and repeat. When Ultimate hightails it to Cosmo Canyon,
it's time to employ new tactics.
Before taking Ultimate on for the last time, set up one of your guys
with the Ultima materia. ONLY. Give the other two Barrier, Restore, and
Time.
Slam the Highwind into Ultimate for the showdown.
The character with Ultima is your attacker. Your ONLY attacker. The
others are solely support. Have them Haste, Wall, and Regen the entire
team, then cast Reflect on your attacker.
Meanwhile, your attacker should be pounding Ultimate with Ultima as
fast as his turn comes up.
When Ultimate goes down, it uses Shadow Flare as a final attack on the
last person who attacked it... Which will be countered by Reflect.
Nothing to it...
Wasting Ultimate nets you 35,000 Exp. and 3500 AP, and opens the path
to the Ancient Forest, where Cloud's triple growth Apocalypse is.
ANCIENT FOREST
AREA 1: Grab the first three bugs you find and take them up near the
pitcher plants. Toss them into the plants to cross. Run down to the
Flytrap and SLOWLY walk onto it from the right while mashing the confirm
button until you get the Supershot ST. YOU WANT THIS GUN! For whatever
reason, it gives Vincent a higher Magic stat boost than the Death Penalty.
Go right, past the springy stem thing, and run up around the tree for the
Spring Gun Clip. Exit to the right.
AREA 2: Grab a bug and use the springy stem to reach the ledge. Toss
the bug into the pitcher plant and go across. Back on the ground, pick
up a frog and take it over to the ramp between two pitcher plants. Chuck
it into the RIGHT plant and jump on. Make sure Cloud is facing RIGHT and
wait for the frog to sling you to the exit.
AREA 3: Toss the first two bugs you see into the pitcher plants to reach
the springy stem. This will bring you into area 4.
AREA 4: Go all the way back to the left and down the branch into area 2
to get the Minerva Band. Jump off the branch and exit as you did before.
AREA 3: Get back into area 4 and go right to the tree with the broken
limb. Climb back down to area 3. Run down to the ground and pick up a
bug. Take it to the right side of the stone pillar with the bee's nest on
it and toss it in the pitcher plant to get up to the nest. Take the bee's
nest, jump down, and throw it into the Flytrap.
Grab the other bug and toss it in the pitcher plant above the Flytrap.
Jump across and run left until you find yet another bug. Take it to the
hollow in the tree and release it to lure out a frog.
Take the frog and toos it into the pitcher plant above the Flytrap.
Jump across and wait to get your frog back. Take the frog to the
rightmost pitcher plant and drop it in there, then jump on top to be
thrown to the final area.
AREA 5: Pick up the Apocalypse and leave.
WORLD MAP
Now that you've got two, count 'em, TWO, triple growth weapons, you
can get down and dirty about levelling your high powered materias. Though
the Sunken Gelinka offers a slightly higher return, Mideel offers the
convenience of a free HP/MP restore right in the vicinity. The choice is
yours, of course. Or, you can simply move on by flying over Midgar.
MIDGAR
Follow Cait Sith to the doors to the underground and climb down. From
the base of the ladder, go down the stairs to another ladder. Go left and
back to another ladder- At the top you'll find an Aegis Armlet. Go back
down and head right until the floor breaks.
Climb the pipes and go around the catwalk to the huge duct. This pops
you out onto a platform with an Elixer and a Starlight Phone. Going down
the ladder near the Elixer and jumping in the duct will get you to the
Max Ray for Barret, but it's a long trip.
Next to the first duct you came out of is a set of stairs; Go up and
you'll be dropped back into the sewers from the beginning of the game.
It may be worth your while to get in some fights down here; You'll
encounter the Shadow Maker enemies, which only cast Slow on your guys and
drop Turbo Ethers EVERY TIME you kill one.
If you run down, you'll be able to pick up a bunch of Source items as
you proceed backwards through the tunnels. At the dead end, turn around
and go back.
Moving up from the starting point triggers an encounter with the Turks.
You can fight them or blow them off... If you fight:
BOSS:RENO, RUDE, and ELENA
You can Poison them all, but Ultima and Comet2 will kill them before
that does.
MIDGAR SEWERS
Continue up and take the second left to return to the ShinRa HQ. You
can pickup two weapons in the gift shop, the Glow Lance on floor 63, and
Cait Sith's HP Shout from a locker on floor 64. Also, if you banged on
the vending machine like I told you to, it will drop a couple of Sources
now.
Head back down to the tunnels and go back one screen. Take a left here
and you'll turn up at the base of the cannon. Take a few steps and you'll
be in a fight with a Transformer.
BOSS:PROUD CLOD
The Armored Core reject packs quite a punch. Set up Haste, Wall, and
Regen, then blast it with Ultima, Comet, Contain... The standard. Survive
and you get a Ragnarok.
You CAN go back into the tunnels and replace any Turbo Ethers you had
to use in that fight before moving along.
SISTER RAY
Just past Proud Clod's spare parts is an Elixer and a Mystile. GET THE
MYSTILE!! GET THE MYSTILE!! Write it on your damned hand if you have to.
Behind the stairs is a Save point. You might want to use it. If you
want Barret's Ultimate Weapon, PHS him into the party and climb up until
you find it. If you don't care, don't bother. Head up the stairs to the
mainframe.
BOSS:HOJO
Haste your guys and abuse Hojo with power magic. Ignore his little
pets; They come back if you kill 'em.
BOSS:HELLETIC HOJO
Use Ultima to attack all three parts at once and blast the torso with
Contain or Comet. Be on your toes for healing and curing status- Helletic
can cause Sleep and Confuse on your non-Ribbon wearing guy.
BOSS:LIFEFORM HOJO
Set up Wall to minimize damage from Lifeform's combo punches and thrash
him with your best stuff.
DISC 3
HIGHWIND
You need levels and you need Master Materia. No, really, you NEED
them. You must have 7000+ HP to take on Safer Sephiroth, which you'll
never attain if you're loaded up with high power magic materias that
reduce your HP by half or more.
Dive into the North Crater and retrieve the Shield materia and the
other TWO Mystiles, then come back out.
NORTHERN CRATER
DO NOT MISS THE FIRST CHEST!! IT IS THE SAVE CRYSTAL!! DO NOT MISS
THE FIRST CHEST!!
Proceed down the crater until you reach the place where you can split
up the party. NEVER USE THE SAVE CRYSTAL IN THIS ROOM. You stand a good
chance of ruining your file and being trapped in the crater if you do.
In this room, send Tifa RIGHT, and EVERYBODY else LEFT.
At the next junction, send Cloud and his partners UP, and any remaining
characters DOWN.
In the second swamp looking room, you'll find the Sheild materia near
the top, lying on a rock.
Go through the path to the bottom of the cave. When you pop out in
the area with the spiral of rocks in the center (the bottom of the crater),
go counterclockwise, toward the green chest, and up to the cave opening.
Go back up this side of the left path.
You'll come back to the room with the big rock in it; Go out the top to
the room where you first split up the party and go down the RIGHT path.
The first chest on this path is the second Mystile-GET IT!!
Back at the bottom of the Crater, you'll meet up with any party members
you sent down separate paths. Talk to all of them to get some extra
items; Especially talk to Tifa, and she'll give you ANOTHER Mystile. This
is a good place to use the Save Crystal.
Now that you've got everything, climb back out of the crater and go get
those Master Materias!
WORLD MAP
As stated before, Mideel and the Sunken Gelinka have the highest Exp.
and AP returns. You can also train in the Northern Crater, but that's
even less safe than the Gelinka.
Of course, another option is to use a Gameshark. Now, before you
brand me a dirty rotten cheater, understand this: CHEATING is something
that gives you an edge, or a downright unfair advantage. Using the
Quick Level and Mega AP codes isn't cheating IF you were going to do it
anyway; It's simply a timesaver. Look, I'm a 27 year old grown man with
a job, a wife, and two kids. I can spend thirty days getting a level 99
party with three Master Magics, or thirty minutes. I don't know about
you, but I got better stuff to do with that much time.
Just so it doesn't seem that I'm condoning it TOO much, I WILL NOT give
you the codes here; Go look for them. You are only allowed to use the
Quick Level Up code, which gives you 131071 (or close to that) Exp. every
fight, regardess of the enemy, and the 99,999,999 AP Per Battle code,
which does just what it says.
Keep in mind that Safer Sephiroth gains 30,000 HP for EACH level 99
party member, and there are TWO more fights before that battle, so you
might want to stop at level 95 or something.
When you're ready to save the ol' world again, go back down to the
bottom of the Northern Crater.
PLANET CORE
You'll descend a series of platforms. Most of them have an Iron Man
or a Draagon Zombie, each of them pretty tough customers. Just remember,
you CAN run from these battles.
BOSS:JENOVA SYNTHESIS
Use a constant barrage of Ultimas on Jenova until the arms are dead,
then switch to Flare to finish it.
BOSS:BIZARRO-SEPHIROTH
You're going to want to get Haste, Wall, and Regen going in this
battle. Once your defense is up, blast Bizarro with Ultima to damage all
of its parts at once. When you kill a part and are prompted about the
other team(s), simply stay with the main party and continue the assault.
Once all the parts are dead, target the Torso with Flare. When the
Head revives, use Ultima to kill it again and go back to Flare. With
Haste in effect, you should be dealing damage at a faster rate than
Bizarro can recover HP.
Use Turbo Ethers to refill your MP, you should have plenty and there's
no reason to save them now.
BOSS:SAFER SEPHIROTH
Have each of your guys put on Regen at the outset of the battle. You
can put Haste and Wall up, too, but it gets tedious and turn consuming to
try and keep all of these support spells in effect AND attack, especially
after Safer Dispells all of your hard work every few turns.
Speaking of Dispell, once Haste is going, use that on Safer, then hit
him with Flare.
When Safer Sephiroth ascends, he will use Pale Horse, then Super Nova.
You will have rougly one turn after Pale Horse to finish any spell you've
already selected before Super Nova starts.
In the space between Pale Horse and Super Nova, DO NOT select any
action. Wait and let everyone's ATB fill. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!
THE INSTANT Super Nova ends, have everyone use Full Cure on themself;
The spell should hit before Safer uses Break. Heal any staus problems
(problems being Silence, Confuse, Berserk... REAL ailments) and return to
the original pattern of Flare, Regen, and Turbo Ethers when needed.
If Safer uses Heartless Angel instead of Break, you'll have to use Full
Cure agian, but it's better than being dead, eh?
The MOST IMPORTANT part of this battle is to keep your MP up and NEVER
let anyone lose Regen status for more than ONE TURN. And to be patient;
I put almost an hour into this fight, so I hope you like One Winged Angel.
When you beat him, pat yourself on the back and enjoy the ending. Or
shut it off, since you've probably seen it a hundred times before.
*********************************** viii *******************************
THANKS
Where I show a little humility...
Squaresoft- For the finest installment of the best game series EVER.
Apathetic Aardvark- For teaching me something new about a game I
thought didn't have any more surprises.
*********************************** ix *******************************
LEGAL STUFF
Final Fantasy and all related terms and characters are copyright
Squaresoft.
Final Fantasy VII copyright Squaresoft 1997.
Bradygames Official Guide is property of Brady Publishing (though
no actual content of said guide was used, I did mention it way back
in the introduction, and there's no reason to get myself sued.)
This guide is copyright Ryan Goss (Acid Angel 13), 2006.
If you want to post this guide or parts of it, send me an e-mail for
permission first. It'll only take a minute, and it's not like I'll say
no.
Well, I might...
Also note that if you choose to do something stupid, like steal MY
property (this guide), keep in mind I have this on my hard drive, as
well as the handwritten original, and I WILL make your life hell over
it.
This guide may be distributed freely, in whole or in part, by any
means.
Any portion of this guide taken from the complete version must be
credited to me. This guide is for FREE distribution, which means nobody
(except me) may get any amount of money for it. Unless you sell it to
your little brother for a penny- I guess I'd let that pass.
To contact me for whatever reason, e-mail me at:
Angel_Hammer13@Hotmail.com
Use Final Fantasy 7 Magic as the subject, or I'll toss it along with
all the spam I get.
Any corrections, revisions, additional strategy, or whatever, will be
greatly appreciated and, if relevant, posted in further versions of this
guide.
What's more, I love getting e-mails about my work. If you send me a
mail, even a nasty one, you WILL get a reply. If you don't I didn't get
it. Check back with GameFAQs and look at the newest version of this
guide to make sure you have my current address, and try again.
************************************ x ********************************
VERSION HISTORY (or, Some Stuff You Probably Don't Care About)
1/??/06 Ver. 0.0- Decided to try a magic only game, and make a guide.
2/01/06 Ver. 0.5- Finished both game and guide, time to type.
2/07/06 Ver. 1.0- Finally typed and ready to go
AUTHORIZED SITES (or, People Who Didn't Rip This Off)
www.gamefaqs.com is the ONLY site that will ever carry my work. If you
find it anywhere else, it's stolen, and I'd like to know about it.